Modern aircraft operate in a relatively congested environment that requires near constant communications with outside agencies, such as air traffic control and other aircraft, as well as internal communications with members of the flight crew, to ensure the safe operation of the aircraft. The pilot(s) of an aircraft typically must take a series of important actions relating to significant events in high traffic areas, such preparing for landing and aborting a landing if commanded to do so by air traffic controllers. In areas of high traffic concentrations, such as a terminal area of an airport, there may be 10, 20, or 50 or more aircraft sending or receiving communications on the same radio frequency. Given the critical nature of radio communications in such areas, pilots of aircraft operating in these areas must pay close and constant attention to every transmission to identify communications intended for them and heighten situational awareness. Pilots obtain situational awareness by understanding what is occurring around them using all of the information that is available to them. For example, pilots can look out the window or examine aircraft traffic systems to understand the movements of nearby aircraft. Similarly, pilots can use audio data transmissions sent from other aircraft to anticipate the actions and needs of the other aircraft as well as adapting to a rapidly changing environment in order to continue operating the ownship aircraft in a safe manner.
Even with diligent monitoring of the radio transmissions, often the pilot(s) of an aircraft will not correctly interpret parts of a communication or may miss a communication altogether. Adding to the problem are weak or garbled transmissions and multiple transmissions occurring simultaneously (commonly referred to as communications “stepping on” one another). Because certain transmissions may be missed or misinterpreted, pilots often need to request audio data transmissions be repeated, which further congests already nearly saturated radio frequencies. A dangerous event may occur if even one audio data transmission is missed or misinterpreted, without proper clarification, by a pilot.
For example, if an air traffic controller instructs an aircraft to climb to 10,000 feet and the pilots misinterpret this instruction and climb to 11,000 feet, the aircraft may be put in close proximity to another aircraft already operating at or that will be operating at 11,000 feet in the same area. Thus, the potential for a mid-air collision may heighten if audio data communications are not received, understood and applied in a timely manner. Similarly, if an air traffic controller issues instructions for an aircraft to land on runway 27 right and the pilots misinterpret the instructions as clearance to land on runway 27 left, another potentially hazardous situation may occur if the pilots apply the misinterpreted instructions as another aircraft may be operating on runway 27 left. Similar situations may be created in nearly all phases of flight or ground operations between aircraft or between aircraft and sources providing information to local aircraft, such as air traffic control and broadcasts with aviation information (e.g., weather, emergencies, etc.).
Currently, the only solution to a missed or misinterpreted radio transmission is for the transmitting or receiving agency to repeat the transmission until the receipt of the transmission is confirmed and properly understood. Occasionally, such transmissions may need to be repeated multiple times, which congests valuable transmission bandwidth.